Anti-Abortion Arizona Law Says Pregnancy Starts Two Weeks Before Conception

The 'Woman's Health and Safety Act' signed into law by Arizona Governor Jen Brewer in April goes into effect this month.

The law calculates a woman's pregnancy as starting the very first day of the last menstrual period, reports the Daily Beast, which could be two weeks before the actual conception.

Women usually ovulate [and conceive] two weeks after the start of their last period. By saying that pregnancy starts two weeks before conception, Arizona's new law narrows the window in which a woman can get an abortion.

The Tucson Citizen reports: “Current law allows abortions up until the point of viability, when a fetus could reasonably survive on its own outside the womb. That’s considered by many medical experts and abortion clinics to be from 22 to 24 weeks.”

The new law could also close the chances of a woman aborting a baby with a lfe-threatening illness as the ultrasound usually done at about the 20th week, which would be the 18th week under the new law.

The Tuscon Citizen states: “During the hearings on the bill, doctors said many women don’t discover their fetus has a severe or life-threatening problem until an ultrasound at about the 20th week. The doctors — and several women who had faced this issue — testified that this law would arbitrarily cut off the right for these women to have an abortion.”